Specialist Speech and Language Therapist - Mainstream Schools

Job Overview

Do you want to be part of a friendly and supportive SLT team?

Do you want to be able to offer direct therapy to children in mainstream schools?

0.8 band 6 role:

We are looking for a passionate speech and language therapist to work in the Hillingdon mainstream schools team supporting children and young people who have a Hillingdon EHCP but who are attending a mainstream school outside of Hillingdon or are Electively Home Educated.

You will have the opportunity to work both directly with CYP and staff in schools - as well as making use of some online therapy where this meets the CYP's needs.

Have a look on our Hillingdon Talks, Moves and Plays website to find out about our wider service

Main duties of the job

• To provide a specialist speech and language therapy service to children in mainstream schools with a Hillingdon EHCP who are attending out of borough mainstream schools and who have an identified speech, language, communication need.
• To provide a specialist speech and language therapy service to children with a Hillingdon EHCP who are being electively home educated (and who have a mainstream profile)
• To be responsible for providing specialist assessment, diagnosis & therapy packages into schools for these identified children.
• To train and support school staff & parents, in order for them to implement therapy advice effectively.
• To provide face to face and remote support as needed – and to explore new ways of delivering remote therapy
• To write updated annual review reports in a timely manner
• To ensure that the needs of the children as specified in their EHCP are delivered
• To prioritise the Safeguarding of Vulnerable Children at all times
• To support the service to achieve Key Performance Indicators and maintain Target Activity Levels
• To take part in/lead on audits and projects for the team/service
• To contribute to, and provide feedback about, possible developments in the team
• To provide buddying and informal support for less experienced staff
• To provide formal supervision for less experienced staff, as needed
  
  

Working for our organisation

We can offer you:

• A buddy who will meet with you every week at first to help you settle in and who you can ask lots of questions
• Regular supervision meetings with a senior therapist every 6 weeks, alongside annual appraisal
• Termly peer supervision meetings where you can discuss difficult cases, read articles together and share your experiences
• A busy but manageable caseload across a range of schools
• Opportunities for remote working in school and at home at the end of the day once a week
• Frequent opportunities to come back to the office for informal support from the team
• Opportunities to develop your clinical skills and knowledge through termly study afternoons, shadowing more experienced therapists, membership of a CEN, training courses and opportunities to invite a senior therapist for a joint consultation
  
  

We are proud to say that the service has:

• Excellent relationships with schools - 91% of SENCO’s report that they are happy or very happy with the service
• Good relationships with parents - 92.5% of parents report that they are happy or very happy with the service. A parent representative attends all of the mainstream schools meetings and parent feedback is sought for new developments
• An annual service improvement plan in order to ensure that the service is continually evolving and developing
• A strong track record on innovation and service development in order to provide a high quality service to children, schools and families
  
  

Detailed Job Description And Main Responsibilities

• To provide a specialist speech and language therapy service to children in mainstream schools who have an identified speech, language, communication need.
• To be responsible for providing specialist assessment, diagnosis & therapy packages into allocated schools.
• To train and support school staff & parents, in order for them to implement therapy advice effectively.
• To support schools with the early identification of children with speech, language and communication needs.
• To prioritise the Safeguarding of Vulnerable Children at all times
• To support the service to achieve Key Performance Indicators and maintain Target Activity Levels
• To take part in/lead on audits and projects for the team/service
• To contribute to, and provide feedback about, possible developments in the team
• To provide buddying and informal support for less experienced staff
• To provide formal supervision for less experienced staff, as needed
  
  

The successful applicant may have contact with patients or service users. As an NHS Trust we strongly encourage and support vaccination as this remains the best way to protect yourself, your family, your colleagues and of course patients and service users when working on our healthcare settings.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• Recognised Speech and Language Therapy Degree qualification or equivalent (minimum of 2:1 or equivalent)
• Further training courses relevant to the post
• Health and Care Professions Council registered
• Registered member of Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists
  
  

Desirable criteria

• First class honours degree or equivalent
• Extensive training relevant to the post
• Member of relevant CEN
  
  

Experience

Essential criteria

• Experience of working in a mainstream/special school as a therapist
• Experience of delivering training
• Experience of supervising a student
• Experience of providing informal support to less experienced colleagues
• Experience of setting up groups for school staff to continue to run
  
  

Desirable criteria

• Experience of leading on a project to improve/develop the service
• Experience of providing formal support to junior colleagues
• Experience of developing and delivering training
  
  

Skills & Knowledge

Essential criteria

• In-depth knowledge of assessment tools, and experience of using them relevant to school age children with SLCN.
• Knowledge of national policies and procedures relevant to school age children with SLCN
• Good knowledge of the SEND procedures
• In-depth knowledge of a range of appropriate therapy approaches, and experience in using them with school age children with SLCN particularly including: ASD, learning difficulties, language difficulties, speech difficulties, stammering, selective mutism
• Knowledge of the principles of clinical governance
• Experience of contributing to an audit
• Good knowledge of the roles of other professionals relevant to school age children with SLCN.
• Good knowledge of standards of record keeping.
  
  

Desirable criteria

• Experience of leading a clinical audit
  
  

Other

Essential criteria

• Good IT skills
• Car driver and owner to travel during the day
  
  

Desirable criteria

• Excellent IT skills
  
  

Attitudes, aptitudes, personal characteristics

Essential criteria

• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills with professionals, children and their families
• Excellent empathy skills
• Evidence of being a pro-active and supportive team member
• Good negotiation and problem solving skills